2018- The Year of Voice Search

Like it or not- voice search is no longer the way of the future. It’s here, and becoming more mainstream than most people are willing to accept. While at a recent technology conference, Gartner reported “by 2020, 85% of searches will be made without a screen.”

Search Engine Optimization: Voice search should be a critical component to your SEO
Like you would expect, voice search is conversation so it’s important to think about how people speak when writing content for your website.

Voice Search Best Practices

Use questions as headers - If your content is answering questions such as “What is..?”, “How much…?”, “What are the difference between...?” be sure to use those questions as headers.

Claim your Google Business Listing - Many voice searches are locally focused so it is important to make sure your Google Business Listing is claimed and up to date.

eCommerce: Voice ordering through Amazon Alexa and Google Home
By taking advantage of the ability to build “skills” in Alexa and "apps" in Google Home, brands now have a direct method for consumers to order via voice. “Skills” are Alexa capabilities that allow users to create a more personalized experience. While Google Home refers to them as apps. If you have yet to begin your brainstorming on how to expand your commerce strategy into voice, consider the following:

Going beyond the basic questions and commands, voice assistants are the future of customer care. By coupling smart, voice activation with chatbot technology, there are endless possibilities for brands to always stay in-front of their customers concerns.

It’s not an overnight change, but when venturing into voice based customer service, consider:

Looking for inspiration- Research how market industry leaders are using “skills” to answer customer questions and product inquiries. Is there anything you’d change about their approach? Use your experience to adapt the starting point for your strategy.

Optimizing for conversation- Develop a list of the most common questions or concerns users might have and come up with at least 3 variations of how someone might ask it. By developing your skill to ensure your answer will be picked up by a voice assistant no matter how a customer asks it, will only further help their experience with your brand.

If you want to get started but are unsure of how to begin, contact our team today. We have many great ideas we’d love to explore with you.